2010 Solar Installation Growth Rate is going to be above 50% driven by a sharp decline in module prices and excelled government guaranteed above market prices for solar generated electricity .This has also been projected by multiple analysts and research firms . Now an industry heavyweight with its numbers is doing the same. SMA sold  1.3 GW of inverters in the first  quarter with 43% marketshare  implying roughly 3 GW of installations in the first quarter of 2010 worldwide.These would imply an annual run rate of approximately 12 GW . Note the first is the seasonally slow quarter so even with German FIT cuts in July , this should be achievable. 2011 is yet an open question but one thing is for sure with the oil prices on continued secular growth,oil rigs causing  pollution hazards and solar prices the only form of energy with a sharply decreasing price curve,the secular growth for solar will be solidly positive.

SMA Solar keeps 2010 outlook on strong German demand – Reuters

Following a highly successful 2009 fiscal year, demand for our products in the first quarter of this year has been excellent again,” the company’s Chief Executive Guenther Cramer said in a statement on Friday.

SMA Solar still expects sales of 1.1-1.3 billion euros ($1.40-1.65 billion) and an operating margin of 20-23 percent this year.

Demand for solar products is currently up as customers in Germany bring forward orders ahead of solar sector subsidy cuts in July, triggering concerns among the country’s solar elite about how demand will develop once incentives are lower.